Early morning Ohio crash kills 3 teens

Published: June 3, 2012 12:10PM

ELYRIA, Ohio (AP) -- Three northeast Ohio teens were killed and two more left hospitalized after the car they were in went airborne as it sped over railroad tracks early Sunday, the Ohio State Highway Patrol says.

The driver, among those killed, was a senior whose Brunswick High School graduation ceremony was scheduled Sunday afternoon. All five in the car were from Brunswick.

Ohio troopers at the Elyria post said the 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier was traveling at a high speed just after midnight Sunday when the driver lost control in Columbia Township. Their report says the driver went off the right side of the roadway, then swerved across the left side of the road, hit a ditch and tree, then flipped over onto the roadway.

The Patrol said 18-year-old driver Jeffrey Chaya and passengers 17-year-old Blake Bartchak and 16-year-old Lexi Poerner were killed. Kevin Fox, age 17, was flown to Cleveland Metro Health Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition. Troopers said Fox was thrown from the car into a ditch on the right side of Boone Road.

Southwest General Hospital wouldn't release information on a 17-year-old passenger identified by troopers as Julia Romito.

Troopers were still investigating late Sunday morning and said so far, the only confirmed factor in the crash was unsafe speed. They were still calculating the estimated speed.

More than 600 students were scheduled to graduate Sunday in commencement ceremonies being held at the University of Akron.

"We're going to gauge how the students are doing," said Brunswick Schools Superintendent Michael Mayell. "We're going to have a moment of silence for the kids. We want to allow the families to grieve in peace, and do whatever we can to get through this very tragic situation."

Mayell has known Poerner's family for years, and said the students who were killed were well known at school, taking part in school activities and volunteering.

"I do know they were very popular students, very well-liked," Mayell said.

"We've always been a very tight-knit community," he said. "It's one of those things that happens that I just don't get."

On Saturday, graduating seniors at another northeast Ohio high school wore special red and black ribbons, as a sign of unity and remembrance in the aftermath of the Feb. 27 Chardon school shootings that killed three students and wounded two others.